


Dignity is Overrated

by bookscorpion



Category: Bright (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 13:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14057730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookscorpion/pseuds/bookscorpion
Summary: A run in with a Bright leaves Kandomere swimming for his life in the freezing water off the coast and towards a chance meeting.





	1. Chapter 1

Kandomere was exhausted and the only reason he wasn’t in pain was that the cold water had made him numb. He didn’t know how deep the water was, but it felt like an abyss ready to swallow him. At least the dot of light he had been swimming towards for what felt like the whole night had turned into a small boat. He had lost sight of it numerous times, but the sea had calmed and it wasn’t much further, he hoped. 

It was. Or maybe he was just so exhausted it took a long time to swim the short distance. When he finally reached the boat, he scrabbled for purchase on the ladder at the stern, only to find that he didn’t have the strength to pull himself up. Before he could bring himself to shout, he got blinded by a powerful flashlight.

‘...the fuck?’, a woman’s voice, more surprised than frightened or angry at the strange man clinging to her boat in the middle of nowhere. 

He opened his mouth to explain, but:

‘Please, I need help.’

was all he could manage. 

She knelt down and pulled him up with surprising strength while he helped as well as he could, painfully scraping his shins in the process. On deck, he rolled over on his side and coughed up water, it took a while until he was able to even sit up. 

‘Is there someone else in the water? Did you go overboard, what happened?’  
He shook his head to the first question and then blacked out when he tried to stand. By the time he came around again, he was below deck, on the floor, and she was unbuttoning his waist coat. Without thinking, he grabbed her wrist, checking the strength of his grip at the last moment.

‘You need to get out of the wet clothes. If you feel up to doing this yourself, go ahead.’ She waited for him to let go and helped him sit up. When he didn’t keel over again right away, she gestured to some towels and the narrow bunk behind him, then stood.  
‘I’m going to make tea.’ 

He didn’t feel up to this, if he was being honest, but there was no way he was going to allow her to undress him. He had some privacy with her in the next room, but it still felt uncomfortable. But being wet and freezing felt a lot more uncomfortable, so he exchanged his soaking wet suit with a towel, dried himself as best as he could while shivering violently and crawled under the blanket. For a long while, he could do nothing but lie there, and wait for the shivering to stop. He was thankful that the woman had apparently decided that questions could wait and only gave him more blankets and tea in a thermos cup. He gritted his teeth at the pain in his limbs as blood and feeling returned to them. Finally, his body decided it was time to clock out, without bothering to ask him for his opinion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: I have no idea if I'm ever going to finish this, but I decided to put it up because then I have some sort of responsibility to work on this. At least that's the theory. Rating may change in later chapters .


	2. Chapter 2

He woke the next morning to the rolling and creaking of the boat. For a moment, he was disoriented, then he remembered chasing after the Bright last night. On a damn boat he only had a vague idea how to handle and alone. Should have waited for backup. But that wouldn't have helped with the spell that sunk the boat. 

He rolled over and groaned when all his muscles started to complain at once. His elvish strength and endurance had saved his life last night, but it didn't protect him from being a less than trained swimmer. 

The woman was nowhere in sight, which was just fine for him, he had no desire to meet her before getting dressed. Even an elf had a hard time keeping their dignity with a blanket clutched around them and bed hair. He had no illusions about exactly how little of his dignity he had kept last night, dripping wet, and having been seen like that annoyed him, especially by a human. 

His suit was on a hanger, a bit damp and very much ruined, but better than the blanket. He gave up on his shoes, also ruined and still soaked. His gun was missing and he couldn't remember if he had lost it at sea or if the woman had taken it. Not a comfortable thought, although he supposed that if she meant him harm, she would have tried murdering him in his sleep. Or just let him drown in the first place.

He hadn’t been in the condition to take much notice of his surroundings last night, but now he took the time to look around. The cabin was small but practical, clearly used by someone who spend much time here and had arranged everything just so. There was no clutter, with everything in its place, something he approved of. 

He made his way on deck where he found the woman watching some sea birds dive for fish. He had paid as little attention to her as to the boat and saw nothing remarkable now. Human, not very tall, dark hair cropped short. He remembered how easily she had pulled him aboard when he hadn’t been much more than dead weight - maybe a bit remarkable.

She turned and flashed him a quick smile. “Agent Kandomere. Good morning. I’m Brigit.” He was taken aback for a moment: “How do you…” Then he felt for his ID. Just as missing as his gun.

She held the ID out to him. “I wanted to know whom I had fished out of the water, all the way out here. Your weapon’s below deck, I’ll return it to you once we’re back on land.” She flashed him another smile, not a friendly one, that clearly said _this is not up for discussion_. “So tell me, what happened? I assume you didn’t plan on drowning yesterday.”

“I did not.” Kandomere spoke slowly, weighing his words. He decided not to press the issue of his gun, he very much doubted she could be dangerous to him and if it made her feel better… “You know already I work for the Magical Task Force. I was pursuing a rogue Bright and they sunk my boat by magic. It was pure accident I found yours. Is there any way I can contact my people, let them know what happened?” A pause as he suddenly remembered something. “Thank you for your help.” She had saved his life, no use denying it, as much as he hated being in debt to a human.

“You’re welcome.” Her tone was dry and he suspected that she knew exactly how little he liked the whole situation, but she seemed to be unhappy about him being here, too. He was used to humans being uncomfortable around him and elves in general, but despite all her politeness, there was hostility beneath it. “And yes, we can call ahead and let the MTF know where you are. We’re pretty far out, it will take a couple of hours to get you to land again at the marina.”   
With a gesture, she invited him to follow her below deck again and he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Kandomere like a cat makes things so much easier...


	3. Chapter 3

The call came months later and at first Kandomere had problems placing her name, but the message she had left when he hadn’t answered jogged his memory. _Remember that time you almost drowned? I need your help._ Plus the address of a police station. Not wasting many words. He appreciated it, but at the same time he was troubled by the fact that she seemed to know well that he could hardly refuse. Most humans had forgotten or never learned much of the old laws and this served elves well. He wondered how she knew.

He deleted the text message, gathered up his things and left his office while calling the precinct to learn what exactly the problem was. He was bounced around between a couple of officers and detectives until he finally was told what he wanted to hear. Or didn’t want to hear. Brigit had been arrested, on charges of unlicensed possession and distribution of an inebriating substance. Kandomere thanked the detective, hung up and thought about simply turning around and ignoring the whole thing. The legalese, translated into plain language, meant that he had an unregistered siren on his hands. There were worse things and he had in fact favors he could call in and strings to pull to make this thing go away. But he would have preferred not being in this situation at all. Although if he was honest with himself, he was intrigued by her being a siren and it only added to his annoyance.

His mood had not improved by the time he arrived at the police station but at least the combination of his ID, his scowl and his social status as an elf made people anxious to get him what he wanted, with a minimum of fuss and paperwork. Which made him feel a little better. Still, he was not in the mood for niceties when Brigit was finally walked out of the holding cell and signed over to him. 

“Come with me, please.” His tone made it very clear that the please was just a formality and he didn’t say anything else until they had reached the parking lot. Brigit had been equally silent, trailing after him and walking fast to keep up. She had obviously slept in her clothes and he caught a whiff of alcohol and sweat when they reached his car and he turned to face her. 

Brigit cleared her throat, suddenly awkward. “Thank you. I appreciate that you did this for me…” 

“Let me stop you right there, I did it because I did not have much of a choice and you know that perfectly well, don’t you.” He hadn’t meant to spell it out like that, but the whole day had been getting on his nerves.

“I do. But I also know that you could have followed the letter of the law. You didn’t have to get me out of needing to register and that … means a lot to me.” 

Kandomere was taken aback by this and overplayed his surprise with a laugh. “It was … more efficient that way, otherwise there would have been loose ends and I don’t exactly want to make this a habit.” Which was the truth, just not all of it. He wasn’t quite ready to talk about that, so instead he asked: “Can you get home from here? I can drop you off, if you like?” 

With a gesture, he invited her to get into the car and she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this was like getting teeth pulled. I'm publishing to stop me from editing it to death.


	4. Chapter 4

It had started to drizzle by the time they arrived at the marina. Conversation in the car had been minimal, the silence uncomfortable, but neither of them had been willing to break it. Brigit gave him a nod:

'Thank you. As far as I'm concerned, we are even'

It was a cheap favour for a life, Kandomere thought. But since she had said it, they were indeed even after the old laws. He always told himself that he didn't follow the laws anyway, but they had a way of getting to you. He felt relieved and a tiny bit disappointed.  
The car door opened and he was startled out of his thoughts, got out of the car after her. The air smelt of salt, a bit of decay and spilled fuel, he could hear the boats moving in their moorings and the drizzle immediately started to seep into his clothes. She had already turned away and was walking towards the entrance of the marina, but there was one thing he couldn't help himself but ask: 

"Why _do_ humans like siren songs so much?' 

She turned to him, a look somewhere between amusement and surprise on her face. 

You mean, you have never heard?' 

'No. It seems a very ... human thing to do.' He frowned, not sure where this was going. 

She snorted with laughter in a decidedly human way.  
'If you say so...' A couple of steps brought her to the edge of his personal space and she leaned forward, crossing the edge of it. 

'Would you like to hear?' 

His curiosity got the better of him and he nodded. At this point, he couldn't think of a good reason not to - he has asked her, after all. 

'Very well.' Brigit took a deep breath and handed him a business card. He took it automatically, feeling unbalanced when she just as suddenly stepped back. 

'Do come to the next concert, I'm sure you can figure out how to find it.' 

Something in his voice made the hairs on his arms raise and he didn't know if it was her gently teasing tone or something else in her voice. Before he could think of something to say, she had left him standing there and had closed the gate to the marina behind her. He could hear her laughing quietly to herself and that raised his hackles even further.  
The business card told him nothing but the name and address of what sounded like a bar and he shoved in into his pocket with an impatient noise. He didn't know _what_ he had expected, but she wasn't going to hand him the time and location to what was basically an illegal event. He was going to have to jump through some hoops to find out more and he couldn't have said if he was more intrigued or more annoyed at the prospect. 

He very definitely was getting soaked, though, and decided that further inquiries could wait until he was home and had had a chance to change his clothes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is not dead! And I actually have a plan of what the next couple of chapters will be, so stay tuned.
> 
> Thank you all for kudos and your kind comments, I really appreciate it!


End file.
